Facial expressions, while displayed by many animal species, are most highly developed in primates and most particularly in humans. Although humans have developed a great capacity to communicate using verbal language, the role of facial expressions in interpersonal interactions remains substantial. Facial expressions provide a means of understanding a person's innermost thoughts and emotions which may defy interpretation by verbal means alone. Therefore, facial expressions in combination with verbal expressions tend to more accurately convey the intended thoughts, feelings and intentions of a person than can be conveyed through verbal expressions only. Moreover, facial expressions and the underlying emotions of which they are a manifestation tend to be contagious, as a person who sees a smiling person is likely to embrace and reflect the positive emotions of that person by smiling as well.
Restoration of a person's lost ability to properly express his or her thoughts and emotions through facial expressions or training of a person in mimicking facial expressions may be desirable in a variety of contexts. In some cases, the ability of a person to express his or her underlying thoughts and emotions accurately through appropriate facial expressions, or the ability of a person to change facial expressions according to changing thoughts and emotions, may diminish or disappear due to causes such as disease, accident or drug abuse, for example. Additionally, actors-in-training may encounter challenges in reacting to staged situations with appropriate facial expressions which may be more naturally assumed by persons who encounter the actual situations.
Therefore, a facial movement measurement and stimulation apparatus for measuring and/or stimulating movement of facial muscles and which is amenable to a variety of applications is needed.